Zirconium phosphate proteins

Kumar, C.V. and Choudhari A. (2000) Proteins immobilized at the galleries of layered alpha-zirconium phosphate structure and activity studies. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 122, 830-837. 

Schafer et al. used several spectroscopic techniques to characterize the surface species on phosphate-modified zirconia particles. Their results show that phosphate merely adsorbs on the surface of zirconia under the mildest phosphate concentration, i.e., neutral pH, room temperature, and short contact times. However, at acidic pH and higher temperarnres, esterification of the phosphate with surface hydroxyls takes place as the kinetic barriers are overcome. The solid NMR studies clearly show the presence of covalently bound phosphate. This phosphate modification effectively blocks the sites responsible for the strong interaction of certain Lewis bases with the zirconia surface, resulting in a more biocompatible stationary phase. Unlike fluoride-modified zirconia, phosphate-modified zirconia behaves as a classic cation exchanger and not as a mixed-mode medium analogous to hydroxyapatite, despite spectroscopic evidence of zirconium phosphate formation on the surface. This limits the applicability of the supports, as most proteins and enzymes are anionic at neutral pH. Nevertheless, its ability to separate proteins with high p/ values still deserves much attention. The preparative-scale separation of murine IgGs from a fermentation broth demonstrates the utiUty of the supports for solutes that are retained. 

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